Posted by Sandy
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 22, 2013 at 3:14 pm

This is a sad event but it is not the first time that this type of thing has happened in Palo Alto. There was an incident at Jordan Middle School with a very popular teacher "Mr. G". Fortunately he got caught and went to prison. And Mr. G lived in Palo Alto. So it doesn't matter if they are a resident here or are a commuter to the various schools - this happens. And of course this has been on the news, in other papers. I think we have beaten the dead horse enough.

Child rape is a horse that can never beaten enough. Palo Alto and it's poisonous parental culture not only does little to prevent molestation (not to mention suicide-which apparently is never the single track "achievement" conscience parents fault), but it ignores it even when it is obviously occurring. Said Mr. G (it's pretty gross that many still use a fond nickname for a child rapist) may have been caught and convicted, but really, the "man" went to prison for five years and now lives elsewhere. Even more the man raped children for decades under the watchful gaze of this school district. This horse, as I said, can never be beaten enough. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by Sandy
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 22, 2013 at 4:24 pm

Chris -
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.] I was very aware of the situation with Mr. Giordano. In fact he lives in the Bay Area and I saw him at the market and felt sick to my stomach. I was upset with the school officials that platently lied about his involvement and turned their backs on the situation. These are sick individuals, but blame the courts - the laws are not strict enough with them. Another instance would be the priests in the Catholic church which is another can of worms. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.] Lets get one thing clear: blaming the courts is at best unhelpful and at worst very harmful. A trinity of parents, teachers and this community's culture is wholly at fault. The courts can only prosecute these people, the teachers and parents who turn a blind eye- whether conscious or subconsciously are as far as I am concerned no better than the rapist.

Posted by Monsieur l'Enfer
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 22, 2013 at 6:59 pm

Being gay does not make a person a child molester. The majority of pedophiles are heterosexual, and some are bisexual. The disease is not homosexuality, but pedophilia!

Personally, short of castration, I do not think there is a cure for pedophilia ( keep in mind there are a few female pedophiles, also). I do not believe that it is EVER safe for the public to release a pedophile from prison, and for lack of a cure, that means life imprisonment, castration, or death for the pedophile. But with our corrupt government, those solutions are probably not viable.

Posted by village fool
a resident of another community
on Mar 22, 2013 at 11:06 pm

@Sandy - you are not the first to mention that school officials in Jordan turned their back on the situation - knew and did nothing. As far as I recall - also the victim said that years after.
Sadly, that falls perfectly in place with the latest OCR findings, with any bullying situation, with Penn State etc. By-standing.
I'm reminded of the parent who said in the open forum after the OCR findings were published - There is no need to have legal education to identify bullying. A heart should be suffice (I do not recall the exact words). Same applies to the action called for- no real need for procedures etc. Avoiding by-standing should do the work. For the most part. What caused the school officials to turn their back?

Posted by boscoli
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Mar 23, 2013 at 6:26 am

Pedophilia by coaches is more common in school sports than most people realize. For those who are badly misinformed:most pedophiles are not gay and they are often married.

It seems like the same type of school officials and parents who turn their back on bullied students and claim that bullying isn't a problem and no established federal guidelines need be followed, are the ones who also bury their heads in the sand vis-a-vis the sexual misconduct of some school sport coaches.

Posted by former Paly soccer parent
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Mar 23, 2013 at 7:30 am

Let's not forget that Jeff van Gastel, once prominent in the local club soccer world and Paly girls soccer coach for six years (and a frequent substitute teacher for PAUSD), was arrested in 2005 after hosting a wild party for some of his players that involved serving alcohol to four 18-year old girls, and having sex with three of them.

Posted by PAUSD Victims
a resident of Barron Park
on Mar 23, 2013 at 7:49 am

I wouldn't be surprised if victims from PAUSD surface, but I also know that this is a very hard thing to do. It requires a lot of courage and be able to put up with a lot of beaten by those who do want to deny it happened.

Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Mar 24, 2013 at 4:22 pm

So, apparently, Palo Alto can't handle the truth: They're very good at hiring child molesters. This was the case when I was in school there & it's still the case. Don't hate on me - hate on the predators & the morons who hire them. This problem hasn't cropped up in surrounding cities, either because it's not happening or because they haven't been caught. Which is it?

Village Fool - "@hmmm - and turning the back to situations/by-standing/ignoring." Exactly. It's not that people can't be fooled - that's often the case. But we can't INVITE being fooled by our own unawareness.

Posted by village fool
a resident of another community
on Mar 24, 2013 at 9:02 pmvillage fool is a registered user.

@Hmmm - Hello!! Nice to meet you, again. Did you "dare" to mention the imperfection of Palo alto? How could you? especially when you are listed to be residing in EPA. I think I know what was removed.
This thread is a result of news, extremely disturbing news. I'm sure that first "thing" anyone who read this, anyone who knew a child who played this sport did - calculate - could the child, loved one, have been hurt?
All this is not disconnected from the Jordan molestation mentioned above, and others. Sometimes - bad teachers/staff/situations present themselves. That happens. The question is - What then?